Choose France: despite social movements, Emmanuel Macron wants to seduce foreign investors

The red carpet for the big foreign bosses. Heckled by the yellow vests since the end of 2018 and the social conflicts born in 2019 against the pension reform, Emmanuel Macron wants to reassure foreign investors. And what could be better than the golds of Versailles to guarantee to CEOs from all over the world that France has lost none of its attractiveness?

Nearly 200 leaders of French and foreign companies are therefore gathered Monday January 20 in Versailles for the third summit "Choose France", which takes place on the sidelines of the Davos summit in Switzerland. They must participate in total in "more than 400 bilateral meetings".

In addition to the president and Prime Minister Édouard Philippe, 19 members of the government will welcome the bosses of large American groups (Coca-Cola, Snap Inc., Fedex, Google, Netflix ...), Asians (Hyundai Motors, Samsung Electronics, Fosun , Toyota ...), African (Cooper Pharma, Orascom) and European (Rolls Royce, EY, ING Bank ...)

The 🇫🇷 is today the 1st destination for foreign industrial investments in 🇪🇺. The turnkey industrial sites will be a real asset to welcome new industrial activities quickly and under control. #ChooseFrancehttps: //t.co/cDBnzpMNWO

Paris in front of London

As in 2018, France remains the second destination for foreign investors in Europe behind Germany and ahead of the United Kingdom, which is about to jump into the unknown when leaving the European Union. Between 2017 and 2019, its attractiveness increased from 22nd to 15th in the ranking published by the WEF, "the best progression of the top 20", according to the Élysée Palace.

According to Matignon, foreign direct investment in French companies grew by more than 5 billion euros in 2018 (an increase of 20%) "and the year 2019 promises to break new records".

To finish convincing itself, the Élysée detailed new investments on Sunday evening. "Health, transport, banking, agrifood, telecoms, digital ... There are announcements on all territories, in all sectors and for all types of jobs."

The largest comes from the Italian-Swiss shipowner MSC, which placed an order for 2 billion euros with the Chantiers de l'Atlantique in Saint-Nazaire for two new liners, deliverable in 2025 and 2027 and powered LNG (liquefied natural gas).

This firm order is accompanied by the signing of two memoranda of understanding between MSC and the shipyards, potentially involving 4 billion euros in additional investment. The construction in Saint-Nazaire of two new liners with 6,700 passengers each will generate "14 million hours of work, corresponding to 2,400 jobs for three and a half years," said the executive.

Among the other announcements within the framework of "Choose France" is the decision of Coca-Cola and its bottler to invest one billion euros over five years in France, half of which to strengthen the production and distribution network of American giant, and the other to "support the development of its current brands and introduce new products to the French market".

While Macron rolls out the red carpet to the bosses of multinationals at the Château de #Versailles, call for demonstrations at 11:30 am Versailles Chantiers station.

We hope that we will not go to GAV to have diffused this info 😋 # greve20janvier #ChooseFrance pic.twitter.com/Y6vKlCIEda

Social revolt in Versailles

For its part, the pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has announced an investment of more than 450 million euros (500 million dollars) over five years in France, including more than 200 million euros for its Dunkirk site where Emmanuel Macron is expected on Monday.

The Anglo-Swedish group, which employs around 1,000 people in France, will in particular continue to develop this site, which specializes in the production of aerosol products for the treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

But the social slingshot is still there. On the 47th day of the protest movement against the pension reform, and while the transport strike seems to be marking time, several trade union organizations - CGT, FO, FSU and Solidaires des Yvelines - have already announced that they will demonstrate on Monday in Versailles .

With AFP

Newsletter Don't miss anything from international news

subscribe